South Africa

"It’s so hard to choose just a couple of places in South Africa, but for me beach time at Plettenberg Bay and a safari in Sabi Sand top my list."

De Zeekoe Guest Farm

Oudtshoorn, South Africa

De Zeekoe Guest Farm lies 10 min outside Oudtshoorn, just off the R62 and the wine route in the Klein Karroo. The name is taken from the original Dutch name of the farm ‘Zeekoegat’ and means ‘hippo waterhole’. De Zeekoe is a 2000 hectare, owner managed working ostrich and lucern farm with beautiful views of Swartberg and Outeniqua Mountains, the perfect setting for an early evening glass of delicious local wine!

The 150 year old colonial homestead offers a range of different room types including seven luxury rooms with veranda and tranquil views of the gardens, plains and mountains. In additional there are five spacious superior rooms that are tastefully decorated with Persian carpets and sandstone tiles, and have an open air shower in addition to the en suite bathrooms. A romantic deluxe room, often the choice of honeymooners, has a fireplace for the cooler winter nights and an open bathroom.

Facilities & Activities

The restaurant offers traditional ostrich dishes, venison and vegetarian options, all accompanied with home grown organic vegetables, herbs and fruit. De Zeekoe’s spa provides beauty treatments and massages, the latter most appreciated by guests who have tested their skills on an afternoon ostrich ride!

Although the hippos that the farm was named after are now gone, the area is home to162 bird species, a variety of monkeys, otters and smaller antelopes like springbok and duiker. You might even see more reticent residents such as aartvark, aartwolf, bat-eared fox and porcupine.

One of the most popular activities is the sunrise wild meerkat tour. It’s a magical experience to see the meerkats in their natural habitat, as they come out of their borrows to forage on sunny, warm mornings. Guests have to sit very still for quite some time in order to gain the trust of the meerkats and so children must be over 10 to go on this trip.

Visitors can learn about this working farm on horseback or an old tractor! There is a livestock feed factory on the farm and lucern bales are also made and distributed from here. The farm also offers fishing and canoeing, and guests can hike or mountain bike in the local area, followed by a refreshing dip in the pool.

Community

The farm supports the Zeekoegat Primary School. This small school was founded in 1938 and now schools 120 primary and 90 pre-primary children from the 20 families that live and work on the farm. Guests can visit the school project room at Safari Ostrich Show Farm and get involved by supporting it’s projects.

Accommodation Reviews

A lot to do in this area so a 2 night stay in the itinerary would have been nice

L O'Neill

November 13, 2013

De Zeekoe, one of the most memorable experiences seeing meerkats at dawn. Premier Classe Train, an excellent trip highly recommendable. We would highly recommend.